What's the Deal with Mari Makinami Illustrious?

[@juliaarmstrong7637]

she won the Shinjibowl lmao

[@discountmorty213]

Fuk nooooo

[@hmshood9212]

Evangelion fanfics are going to have a field day with this.

[@Alvacka97]

Based Anno

[@golden1_1dragon12]

@@hmshood9212 it's war time🤣🤣🤣

[@petchpm]

I predicted this since 2.0 came out. Since she is Anno's wife self insert after all.

[@matthewschoen7033]

I think the simplest way to understand Mari is that she actually wants to get in the robot.

[@CheekiScrubb]

the only one lol

[@justoneguy2487]

So... She's Kensuke but female and less likeable

[@lemonov3031]

@@justoneguy2487 Kensuke chads rise up

[@jebes909090]

mari is all the fanboi's of evangelion in girl form.

[@tomemeornottomeme1864]

@@justoneguy2487 HONESTLY. I think the best choice would've been simply making Toji, Kensuke and Hikari all pilots. It fits better with the plot, and doesn't feel as alien because they're already established characters and all theoretically eligible for the draft, yet it's still a new-enough concept that it could be quite shocking. When I was first watching the original series, I honestly thought Kensuke was going to become a pilot, especially when it began hinting that Toji had been chosen. Mari's enthusiasm to pilot the Eva would just be Kensuke, and then Toji and Hikari's banter between them and everyone else provides the more light hearted, comedic side of Mari, as well sets up room for a second romantic subplot and we all know anime fans eat that shit up.

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

Other EVA pilots: "Nooo! Nooo! You're supposed to be traumatized with crippling self doubt and hate stepping into giant robots!" Mari: "Ha ha! -- giant robo angel cyborg go brrr!"

[@PutraRhm]

Lmao I'm dying

[@ricardomiles2957]

Legit one of the reasons I appreciate her presence, she's like that one very cheerful friend that doesn't really understand you but always does their best.

[@Oueenazolatigressgina]

I just love Mari's character

[@FenrirEX]

I mean. After living with Curse of Eva for nearly 30 years, what else was she gonna do?

[@Baykko]

But Asuka is exactly like that. Asuka only acts depressed outside the Eva because that's where she has to be herself to carry on. On the Eva she is the genius girl and hope of humanity against the angels /nerv.

[@SunnyDDial]

Evangelion fans: Nooo the children have to be mentally unstable! Me: Ahaha Mari goes Excusez-moi Eiffel

[@PotatoGawds]

lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[@casperchristiansen2458]

Eiffel go spinny.

[@revel8683]

LMFAOOOOO

[@andred8954]

rip eiffel

[@atomskthepirateking2776]

hahaha shes actually 60 years old

[@liam4606]

Little did we all know Mari would become what Yui was to Gendo, the person he least expected to come into his life and pull him out of a dark place and save him (literally). And the one to guide him into the real world.

[@blackmambo8702]

Wow, I didn’t even think about it like that.

[@voxpulse7571]

if you saw the part where gendo had flashbacks, yui had hair and glass exactly like mari

[@blackmambo8702]

@@voxpulse7571 Bro no way, I'm gonna watch their scene again. If thats true that's insane

[@voxpulse7571]

@@blackmambo8702 it's the part where he explains why he liked the sounds of a piano.

[@Not-Andy-Here]

I just wish we got more Mari and Shinji scenes in these movies so them ending up together at the end of it all didn't feel so random and out of nowhere. Even Toji's little sister with less screentime had more romance with Shinji than Mari ever did.

[@tomokokuroki2506]

The year is 2021. The world is at war. Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 has finally released and now the world knows: Germany has lost to England again.

[@LeMeccerino]

Asuka gave up and started building Nordstream II.

[@MasonGreenWeed]

Anglo still bottled the Euro tho

[@Gogogadgetyoutubehandle]

IM CRYIN

[@t65bx25]

Oh my god

[@PutraRhm]

Aryan gf failed

[@TheDummkopfs]

Remember the part where mari said she prefers the "original" rei?🤔🤔🤔

[@vivi-wr8nm]

there are a lot of little things that do add some credibility to the "curse of eva" theory with her namely, what you said and that they even bothered to MAKE THE CURSE OF EVA A THING, after having her sing the showa era songs in the previous film the pieces are there yet its looked at as kind of an unlikely theory and i dont know why

[@francisco8345]

@@vivi-wr8nm i mean you are right the curse doesn't add anything thematically i think its just a narrative device

[@Liam-iv7wk]

Well original Rei kinda saved her life so...

[@ReaperPLUR]

@@vivi-wr8nm why would it even be looked at as a theory, when Asuka in 3.0 straight said the curse of the eva

[@ibt2811]

She wasn’t talking about nge, she was talking about the first rei in the rebuilds, in 3.33 it is another clone rei

[@silapakornsangsinchai8392]

Glasses were hard to animated so we had avoided it. Meanwhile Shinji's dad wears glasses since day1.

[@lucillelucille]

But Gendo’s head rarely moves (turns, bobs, nods, etc). We see him brooding head on or from side view with just his mouth moving MOST of the time. Conversely Young Gendo (more expressive) doesn’t have glasses, probably for this reason. In comparison, the pilots all have complex facial expressions (screaming, whiling their heads around, sometimes grabbing their eyes when pierced by an Angel like Mari in 2.22), so I could see glasses animation as being something they would skimp on early on. 🤷‍♀️

[@PutraRhm]

Just to give us an insight about girls with glasses superiority.

[@TheSonicChaotix]

Interesting. I can't even describe her personality, and I'm someone who defends the Rebuilds. She ended up being fanservice fuel. EDIT: I stand corrected. She won.

[@caav56]

I'd say "broken, but in an opposite direction" kind of personality. Where other Eva pilots break in tears, she channels those feelings into murderous fury to unleash in the battle. Where others see the war like a nightmare it is, she paints it for herself as a fun place to cope with it. Did you see, how bloodlusty she was during the battles with Third Angel and Zeruel? Not even caring about injuries, just wanting to have "fun" and kill Angels at any cost.

[@Thoralmir]

I'm working on the theory that she's an Eva fangirl who somehow managed to sneak into the Eva universe. You know, like Gwenpool from Marvel.

[@rancorious247]

@@caav56 she's batshit insane, but in a useful way

[@francisco8345]

I honestly think she is a key element to breaking the cycle of pain of the main characters (amd humanity). She is needed "to make shiji happy at last". I think NGE is like the depression and the Rebuilds are like getting out of that shit and you need a character thats not so negatively emotionally broken. The archetype of yolo. You need someone like mari. I mean i think thats the only possible reason to add a character like that in evangelion.

[@nyazillagojira7079]

I like that analogy. I heard various thoughts on author san's issue n dealing with depression. Knowing about Bi-polar issues I can understand the concept. Needing to keep story on track has a certain amount of things needed. As its artistic the 'semantics" can be misleading at times. The up/down n sideways mentality of a character being relatable can be tricky. Mari does show another angle to that coping issue in a sense. Instead of breaking you realize a different perspective. You wanna "Dance, let's dance". A different perspective or mind set can change everything. Being the "foreign element" she rattled the perverbial cage of the movie/characters.

[@loverofjesusMKII]

"Oh, that's not in the storyline." So that was a fucking lie.

[@Adrien_von_Ardel]

XD

[@hijikili2656]

It was

[@ChilledBacon]

after watching the 4th film I can safely say Mari is basically the random light to shinji, much like how Anno's wife was to Anno. Shinji is quite literally the embodiment of Anno's personality

[@terriblemaze]

exactly, her character is nothing but a prop for shinji to be happy against. that's it, and its totally unearned and unwarranted and poorly written.

[@Danielzilla]

@@terriblemaze and yet that’s how real life works

[@terriblemaze]

@@Danielzilla First of all- no it's not you delusional twat. Second of all: it's lazy storytelling.

[@Danielzilla]

@@terriblemaze Regardless of your (terrible) opinion on whether or not it’s “lazy storytelling” you aren’t don’t earn companionship or love in life. Someone that becomes someone’s significant other is very likely to have just appeared in their life one day due to an independent set of circumstances that they had no bearing on. Real life doesn’t function or play out like a basic plot graph or character story arc. Try to expand your horizons a little. Or don’t, whatever you want.

[@terriblemaze]

@@Danielzilla First off- yes. You do earn love in life. No love is unearned. Whether that love is gained intentionally or thoughtfully or not is another matter- but there is a difference between real life and good fiction: In real life every new moment is an accumulation of past moments: mundane or revelatory- they all exist. Love grows from an accumulation of these moments and while it may seem like it does not take a shape or a path- it does, it may just be that you lack the awareness to curate those moments into the lineage that they followed. But in writing- whether you are writing a biography or a novel- it is the author's job to curate the moments of their characters lives into what pushes them forward in the story. If you write a character into a story and then do nothing with them and try to convince us of a breakthrough they have at the end without showing us the path of that breakthrough- it seems unearned and lazy. It's the writer, and the writer alone who has control of separating the meaningless and the meaningful and to craft it into a curated showcase of events that aligns their view of the characters with the perception of those characters by the viewer. It's easy to pretend bad writing should be overlooked if your fanaticism over an IP or a character's butt shape makes you attached to them regardless of their competent conception- but that doesn't change the fact that the writing missed a step, or several, in this case.

[@endlessdragon143]

When I was an eva obsessed teenager, I'd like to think Mari was Asuka's kaworu. Knowing how eva is directed, that won't happen lol

[@cro-magnum7642]

Aaaah, that would actually be a good idea.

[@kamatakun9055]

Ehhh, watch the new trailer i guess.

[@a.n.y2902]

I still think that way... Guess I better strap for disappointment.

[@wzx6x6z6w]

I feel like Anno kinda wanted that to happen but he didn't know how. In the new 4:0 trailer you can see she and Asuka are sharing the same bulk bed and literally sleeping together.

[@callmecallme524]

YEAH i totally see that..the way mari acts around asuka parallels how kaworu is: the way both seemingly "came out of nowhere" and took an immediate interest in their respective copilots, both have a scene where they share a bed with their copilots, even the way they smile around them is similar. if i remember correctly, there was even a scene where mari holds asuka's hand that was cut from the rebuilds.

[@stuntmonkey00]

The shippers are upset; Anno is a total madlad, he somehow managed to come to peace with Evangelion and give its most rabid fans a middle finger at the end. Well played.

[@ViVi-gi1ns]

Seems like the most diplomatic way to end things by letting an “outsider” win shinji

[@ViVi-gi1ns]

@@YuitoScarlet yes

[@wisnu7846]

Why the shiper need to be upset? Is it because shinji endup or go with mari or because he didnt endup with the rei or asuka?

[@MrIronhat]

@@wisnu7846 both Asuka and Rei are toxic in different way for Shinju, but I expected Mari to help Asuka grow into a better person instead being the third option.

[@4-kathryn]

I wasn't upset, it moved me that the creator of the series was willing to suggest who was a good fit for Shinji. I've grown used to anime leaving the audience questioning the true pairing... like what Tenchi anime series did. Glad Shinji has someone now, he needed that in my opinion.

[@moosewillis7098]

Just finished watch 3.0 + 1.0 and this is my thought. Rei reminds Shinji of his mother and is his first "love." His childhood love phase. Asuka was his adolecent "High School Love." While Mari is Shinji's love interest as an adult. That is just my idea.

[@azzyvert9651]

Not bad since she kept saying he matured ?! Also what happened with Asuka? Did she die !?

[@moosewillis7098]

@@azzyvert9651 I dont think she did, after Shinji rewrites reality I think she lives her, excuse me for this, best life.

[@ComeInToMadness]

interesting that they made Mari is Shinji's love interest as an adult considering they gave her no fucking development or character. Oh yeah and she's literally 40 years older than him

[@adimasguntur]

@@azzyvert9651 she's on the train platform, along with kaworu and rei

[@Gunlot97]

@@ComeInToMadness well Are you going to tell me that this can't happen in real life? Where suddenly someone comes into your life and you fall in love without knowing all their history and past? As long as that person helps you overcome your problems and makes your life happy I don't see a problem with that.

[@Eerie0Innocence]

Now that I’ve had time to digest the final film and evangelion as a whole, I think I (sort of) understand what Anno and crew were saying with Mari, and given that most of the Eva ladies are paired with Shinji, I’m gonna analyze it through that lense. If Shinji ended up with Rei, for example, symbolically he would’ve been going back into his old habits: running away to something more comfortable. Since she’s symbolically and literally a copy of his mother, being with her would probably cause him to regress. If Shinji ended up with Asuka, that would’ve been representative of him throwing himself into piloting the Eva forever and ever. I believe Anno has said that the three main Eva pilots reflects parts of himself, and Asuka is the part of himself that strives to work hard and throwing himself into his creativity. So it’d basically be symbolically Shinji throwing himself into his work. Not a bad way to live I guess, but it’s still lonely and isolating. With Shinji ending up with Mari, even though we don’t know much about her, I think in the end it’s a good thing. Shinji’s biggest fear is connecting with others, especially his dad, and he confronts that fear in 3.0 + 1.0 . And now he’s able to connect to others that seem strange, unknown, and maybe a little intimidating. It’s part of being an adult. And while it doesn’t make sense to us the audience why he’d like Mari and end up with her at the end, enough time has passed at the ending of the film to at least make it somewhat believable that they’d formed a connection between when they’re teenagers to when they’re adults. He’s able to let go of the past peacefully and make a new future with a new person in his life.

[@homurameguca]

I disagree with much of what you’ve said. Rei is not necessarily someone more comfortable. Shinji never knew his mother, so to simply say that he would be running away to something familiar, his mom, is incorrect. You can also say Rei exhibits motherlike tendencies, but I’d argue that she doesn’t show them as much in Rebuilds and that Mari is more expressive of these traits. Another thing to consider is that Rei has parts of Lillith in her and is derived off of Shinji’s mom Yui. In the original NGE, Shinji never fully gets over these facts, distancing himself from Rei after finding out her true nature. Rei’s nature is still the same in Rebuilds, but they never really confront this issue, sidelining Rei for the second half of 3+1. Just like any of the other main characters, she had trouble connecting with others, cited as being as “not being very adept at living” by Ritsuko. As for Asuka, given that Shinji rewrote the world into one without the Evangelion, and ended the loops, the point of her being representative of Shinji throwing himself into the Eva over and over is moot. The case could be made that a relationship with Asuka would be toxic, which I think does hold some merit, but the fact that Shinji rewrites the world, anything can go with anyone. He could rewrite the world so that his children with Rei aren’t born with defects, or that gay marriage is legal in Japan and he ends up with Kaworu. Indeed, we see Mari staying the same age, despite being revealed as being colleagues of Gendo and Yui, and being of similar age. If Shinji rewrote Eva out of the world, with the curse of the Eva being lifted, would Mari not be physically aged up to her 50s at the end? While Mari is mysterious to Shinji, she is not in the least intimidating, considering their first meetings consist of Mari rubbing her breasts onto Shinji. His attraction to Mari can be summed up in his own words: “Gorgeous girl with large breasts”. I would not say that Shinji has truly learned to connect to others, given that he has to apparently move on from all of his friends. A bit of a shame that finally in a world where they don’t have to be separated by death, they have to move on from each other. I also don’t believe anytime passes between the beach scene and the train station scene, considering that the transition is a cut rather than a fade. It doesn’t make sense if Shinji wore the DSS choker for all those years. Considering this, one could draw the implication that Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu have no memories of Shinji and the Evangelion, with Shinji rewriting the world and its history. It’s hard to make sense of the ending in a literal sense, as I believe it is rather completely meta. If you draw a parallel between Shinji and Mari to Anno and his wife Moyoco, the ending makes much more sense. As Shinji loses colour in his life at the beach scene, Mari brings it back, much like how Yui brought colour to Gendo’s life. This is true with Anno and his wife. Just as Mari saved Shinji, Moyoco saved Anno too, in a sense. Having to battle depression once again after the release of 3.0, evident in that the final movie would not come out until after nearly 9 years, Moyoco helped Anno carry through, being by his side. The nature of their relationship is that Moyoco is the one who takes care of Anno. An example of this is in the NHK documentary of the making of 3+1, where we find out that Moyoco has to regulate the eating habits of Anno. It seems to me that the ending is telling you to move on from Evangelion, become a salaryman, and find a wife. A very conformist message, and it’s as if Shinzo Abe himself wrote the ending himself. It appears that the solution presented is to find a wife to fix your personal problems, which I don’t think is good advice. While having a partner can help and in some cases, such as with Anno, alleviate your personal issues, it is not the case for many people. Rather, fixing your personal issues should come first before finding a partner, else you risk exacerbating your current problems. I personally didn’t expect Shinji to end up with anyone, and really, it wasn’t necessary to pair him up with anyone.

[@ekszentrik]

Mari is a symbol of a) you don't always get what you expect, this pertaining to the fandom that wanted to see the shipping that has been going on for more than two decades yielding fruit. You can add the subpoint to that that it's a very deliberate rejection of otaku/weeb culture, since Rei/Asuka arguably hypercharged the moe concept, as well as Eva the subculture in general. b) that life contains surprises. Go out, touch a river. It has always been a core philosophy of Eva. c) it was a sign of moving on, since she is the newest main character of the franchise with the least screen time. In a way, it would have felt claustrophobic, almost like being stuck in a time loop, if Shinji stayed with one of the two main girls we have seen him interact with already all the time. It's also less organic, since in real life, you don't necessarily end up with a crush from your teenage years. This relates to both a) and b): real life exists, and points about it can and maybe should be made in escapist media as well. Not really a bullet point is that Asuka was just plain ... poisonous. They didn't have the healthiest relationship, with Asuka hitting and bullying him constantly and Shinji in turn strangling her. Mari understood how to tease gently instead of via bullying, making you turn red in the face instead of blue. Mari also was the cutest in both looks and personality, nya

[@dimachekhov]

It also could be a simple answer for an old fandom debate “who’s better, Asuka or Rei?”. Last rebuild was all about “stop living in imaginary worlds and get to reality”, so here Anno’s just saying “just stop arguing about it and live your lives”.

[@MaxIronsThird]

What about a 4th option? Someone we don't know, a character less retarded? an unknown would be better than Mari.

[@DemonNess]

@@homurameguca I don`t speak English, but I love you.

[@edwardaugustus9680]

She needs more development but I like her. Though thinking about it her 'lack' of development comes from 3.0 not explaining what she was up to in 2.0.

[@Liam-iv7wk]

Dude 3.0 is such a cluster fuck I didn't even think about it. It's like Justice league alt timeline where Superman becomes evil, takes over Earth and kills half the Justice league for lulz.

[@mediadetective6104]

@The Eclipse arguably less than that

[@INFERNO95]

@The Eclipse Anno don't care about the side characters. Look how he ignored kensuke and toji?

[@Ariel_emerald]

@@INFERNO95 he took care of that one

[@INFERNO95]

@@Ariel_emerald He sure did.

[@darklessian]

Each potential love interest before Mari represented increasingly better, but still unhealthy, versions of a relationship for/with Shinji. Version One, Shinji and Rei, is just Freudian as all get-out. Being that Shinji uses his actual mom to connect with the Eva, this is also the simplest understanding of Evas he has being internal in nature. Version Two, Shinji and Asuka, is better, but their past trauma and communication styles make a healthy relationship impossible. Also, Asuka and Shinji share the fact that they're piloting their dead moms. This is an external perspective on Evas. Version three is with Kaowru, a person who recognizes Shinji for who he actually is, and finds a language through which to communicate with Shinji. Unsurprisingly, this takes the form of piano duets, very similarly to how Asuka and Shinji sync'd up to music prior. However, Kaowru's personal goals and desires were at odds with Shinji's. He saw Shinji as the perfect human to pilot Eva with him in a world of Eva. This is Shinji's final perspective, that of the Eva's self-perspective (and the Eva's view of Shinji). It is with this understanding that Shinji is able to recognize the toxic nature of his relationship with Evas, and that he will never be happy in a world which Evas exist within. The final Version, Mari Iscariot, isn't a character designed to teach Shinji some deeply hidden aspect of his psyche. She's her own character. Mari represents Shinji finally putting a stop to focusing every relationship on his personal struggles, and experiencing an actual independent romantic partnership. Could one relate her back to Shinji's issues? Easily. However, I'd argue that the fact she never really ties into all of his Eva stuff, only ever being involved tangentially, makes their eventual romance feel more lifelike. Mari's that one cool friend-of-a-close-friend that you meet at a group thing and just hit it off. To make her anything else would be to devalue her independence.

[@lukethekuya]

Lezgooooo

[@Durabele]

Great analysis, honestly, this is why I don't mind mari's addition and subsequent lack of development. It's a flaw sure, but I'm extremely happy with what Anno gave us too.

[@Tedris4]

"A world without EVAs" means a world without the relations caused by EVAs too. Rei and Asuka are defined by their piloting of the EVAs, and Kaworu represents the conflict around them, being an angel and all. Mari is the only character complete without an EVA or connection to them, and so is the only logical connection within Shinji's new, EVA-less world.

[@ChinoGitano]

We’ll said. So this makes Mari the trophy of Shinji’s therapeutic graduation lol ~

[@desubokudawanano]

>her own character Not even a character kek

[@ledojaeger7474]

Thanks for making this! I continue to have faith that 3.0+1.0 will justify Mari's appearance in the Eva universe; especially if the Sequel theory is true, as it appears. She declares from the outset at the start of 2.0 that she has an agenda of her own she hates to involve adults in (coming right on the heels of Kaji similarly remarking that he hates to involve kids in adult agendas). She could be the key to understanding why this Eva timeline is the way that it is.

[@thomaseasley2938]

What series does your profile picture come from

[@ledojaeger7474]

@@thomaseasley2938 Hodaka from the film Weathering With You :)

[@thepillowhead2453]

I mean...yeah?

[@FerroLux00]

Problem is: her character seems even worse than how it actually is because she is side by side with some of the most fleshed out characters in anime history lmao

[@cerebrustusbordungolski7183]

True, it would take a whole 20-something episode series for her to even stand a chance of coming close to the other main characters. Her character would work much better if there was a context to how she got to the place she is now, as opposed to a newcomer who just happens to be except from any of the issues that the other kids had to deal with. Also, rebuild is just that different from the original series.

[@rdu239]

The tragic inbetweener character

[@tarkovsky97]

and by that i know you don't mean rei!

[@kevinDAninja]

Pen Pen sets the bar pretty high.

[@INFERNO95]

Flash out characters in history? Are you for real? Misato is the only character whit development from the old anime every one else is a mess.

[@BroJo676]

Love her so much and would like to see more of her. She's a clear lunatic and such a thick cloud of mystery around her that is so damn enticing. And, even though her singing is tacky, I still like it as it shows she clearly doesn't take herself too seriously!

[@SEELE-ONE]

“She’s not suspicious at all” She self destructs an Eva that still smelled like new car, literally parachuted into the story and infiltrated NERV, hijacked an Evangelion and kicked ass... That’s pretty suspicious for me!!! That aside, she’s not an unlikable character. She has her quirks and the faintest slab of personality. But feels very alien to everything in Evangelion.

[@mephosto]

she is crazy suspicious; personally, i think she's the avatar for something. something reaching in.

[@nerdlord20]

He says that was the intent of her character though, to be alien to eva...

[@machiavelli612]

@@nerdlord20 I'd agree, her appearing at the start of 2.22 is a great indication that somethings diverging.

[@bartsussygaming487]

She is sus

[@wommpa]

@@bartsussygaming487 STOP IT GOD DAMN IT

[@andresromero36]

"Oh yeah I added Mari on the manga just for fun, don't think to hard about it" Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Yeah, about that...

[@ComeInToMadness]

Might as well as just added her for fun with how little of an actual character she is and just a self insert of anno's wife

[@andresromero36]

@@ComeInToMadness Have you seen the last movie? Thats not just for fun, thats actual really important plot involvement that changes a lot of stuff

[@KodexTheArchivist]

Know what, let's say it *LETS FUCKING GOOOO* EVA SAYS FUCK Y'ALL WAIFUS WE GOT LEFT FIELD

[@petrfedor1851]

To be fair I think Rebuilds has habit of taking concepts from manga time by time. So it´s not suprising.

[@SirEriol]

I like the idea of her and her design, yet Mari's personality, as I remember, was uneven. And yes, many of the problems could have been solved if 3.0 had a longer running time and we could get to know the new characters and her.

[@vivi-wr8nm]

if they had just cut down the opening fight sequence that went on too long they could have done so much more

[@SirEriol]

sessu The worst thing about 3.0 is that it feels too long and at the same time it feels terribly rushed. I'm not entirely sure how it could have been done better. Feels like everything was esential, but not executed well.

[@vivi-wr8nm]

@@SirEriol as the opening is like 2/3 through i just think "can we get to shinji already"

[@aegis408]

Anno should just make a new Evangelion series so he has time to tell his story, I don’t know why he doesn’t it’d sell like crazy

[@nopatiencejoe6376]

@@aegis408 considering it's taking 8 years for them to finish this last movie, I doubt Anno will try to start another Evangelion series so soon.

[@wisteriawitch7816]

I personally think she was just added as in excuse to get another Eva unit on screen for 3.0/3.0+1.0

[@tomemeornottomeme1864]

@depressed cockroach Exactly, we already have the groundwork for a fourth pilot, Toji's whole storyline already exists and it would have melded better. If they wanted to shake things up, they could just make him happier and more sarcastic to add that comedic relief Mari is supposed to bring. Plus, there could even be a fifth, sixth and even seventh if Karowu, Hikari and Kensuke were all drafted to be pilots. The chemistry that could've taken place between a large team like that or the ability to swap in a new pilot once one of them gets downed would have been very beneficial, I think.

[@terriblemaze]

and to sell more toys of young women getting undressed.

[@yourpianobestie]

Wow! Love this video. Don't really like Mari but I can appreciate the thought put behind her character.

[@DarthAlphaTheGreat]

I wonder if this is Anno’s revenge on us...

[@elpopman2055]

You mean Revenge on the toxic portion of the fandom? Not us

[@Jsimms1324]

@@elpopman2055 Definitely the toxic portion!

[@ShinGoji1987Official]

I liked her, she added something a bit different. I always wanted to see even more pilots though, like maybe they could give Shinji's bully a bigger role. I always liked his black Eva unit, shame he didn't last long though.

[@simplyhysterical8179]

RIGHT? if only the original series were longer!!! his motive was clear cut and he would've been an interesting fit with the rest of the of pilots, even if only temporarily. rip

[@ShinGoji1987Official]

@@simplyhysterical8179 I think the main thing that held them back from doing more was simply budget. The last 2 episodes were so odd and full of lots of stock footage lol

[@BlamoStramo]

@@ShinGoji1987Official in spite of that the last 2 episodes were great. The budget wasn't the problem but they were crunched for time.

[@ShinGoji1987Official]

@@BlamoStramo It was very abstract to say the least xD

[@aegis408]

Shin Godzilla 1987 those last two episodes were really weird and felt subpar compared to the rest of the episodes; I still like them though

[@chancecole437]

Man... they better give her something cool to do in 4 to make her worth it. I really like the Rebuilds as their own thing, but her inclusion seems annoyingly needless. We will see.

[@thefreeburningspirit]

Agreed, though I'm not holding my breath. Expecting them to flesh her out in the final film feels like wishful thinking at this point. Damn shame too because I really like her design..

[@campkira]

onsen... it will happen..

[@syweb2]

@@campkira What do you mean?

[@machiavelli612]

I actually prefered her role in 2.22 to 3.33, I think she works really well as a background character. Her fight with zeruel was just as long as it needed to be. it just seems to be too late to give her the spotlight at this point, best leave it up to fans to theorize on her origins.

[@papasscooperiaworker3649]

@@machiavelli612 Bruh wait we don’t even know her origins??

[@honey3762]

I would have loved to see Toji really become a part of the group, it's not like he wasn't selected to be the fourth child cause he was :T

[@NaviciaAbbot]

Well, that is easily explained in two words revealed in 3.0+1.0.

[@fukaze2021]

The only problem with Mari for me is the fact that she adds nothing to the story, she's only there for fanservice, but then again it's still no clear what story Hideaki Anno trying to tell in rebuild

[@tarkovsky97]

you like fucking jojo bizarre zip it

[@haset332]

@@tarkovsky97 jojo is goated and they're right

[@TheYetixOUTx]

I think the meaning of rebuild is to turn evangellion into a bland fan service anime. Everything that happens is exactly what brain dead fans of the original have been screaming for.

[@fukaze2021]

@@TheYetixOUTx i hope not, because my only reason watching ROE is to see a different ending the better and happier one than the original series

[@TheYetixOUTx]

@Samuel Andrews Yeah I'm happy with the originals. The series giving us the good ending and the movie gives us the bad ending. The redo movies have stellar animation but I feel like their changes undercut all the original's choices for the sake of making the fan happy with a fan fiction retelling making all the "right" choices that were so perfectly flawed choices before. The introduction of the Mari character was it for me. She literally falls from the sky lands on Shinji is attracted to the smell of LCL and she goes generic bloodlust I love fighting big robots I'm the best at it mode. I was pretty done after that movie.

[@ycastro2003]

Easy, MORE FANSERVICE!

[@cro-magnum7642]

@@stefananderson6180 Why would Anno do that? Wouldn't that just slap the fandom in the face? True Eva fans like the show because of it's deep characters and interesting lore. Unless I'm the only person like that. I never had a waifu, so what do I know?

[@AA-lz4wq]

​@@cro-magnum7642 I really think Anno was pushed into this project just to cash in on the IP and not for a particular artistic vision of his. Many people who defend the integrity of these movies are pointing out that they're heavy on a meta-commentary about the fandom and otaku who are literally unable to grow as people (man-children/curse of eva/"gaki shinji") and enjoy basic fanservice and archetypical characters (which could explain Mari as a character and Asuka going full tsundere in 2.0). However, at the end of the day and beyond this "symbolism" (that doesn't work for me), I really think these are highly inferior products and it's a shame that the Evangelion franchise went to this route. These movies lack any clear vision or consistency and Anno is clearly panicking. The prolonged hiatuses and misleading previews are a sign of this. On a side note: If you read most of this comment section you'll find that many of these "fans" behave like literal man-children defending the rebuild movies because of the "waifus", battles, and cool-looking mecha and character designs. So this "meta-commentary" interpretation has some credibility... but why would you do this? It's not clever or anything... Me Me Me! did it better in 4 minutes... you don't need 4 movies in the lapse of 14 years to accomplish this.

[@cro-magnum7642]

@@AA-lz4wq But it wasnt Anno's fault that these movies are trash, right? If he really is the problem, I will lose all respect for him. I've never seen a franchise that pisses on it's own viewers before. I think Anno should remember that the people who watch Eva for it's soul are the true fans, and they are the ones that truly care about the franchise.

[@Mutterschwein]

@@cro-magnum7642 "But it wasnt Anno's fault that these movies are trash, right?" It kinda is. He literally owns Khara(the studio animating these films which also owns the rights to it), and is also the director which means he can do pretty much whatever he wants with Evangelion and this is what we got. Everything looks and is animated better but are just more shallow(including the characters). Even the transgressive and arguably more romantic relationship of Shinji and Kaworu that made people uncomfortable and took them out of their comfort zone in the original have been changed into tame, safe yaoibait. it's all just about the explosions and boobies now like a Michael Bay film :P

[@cro-magnum7642]

@@Mutterschwein Oh. SCREW YOU, ANNO!!!

[@thumpercomet3856]

I like Mari. Her lighter personality is a welcome addition, especially in 3.0 where, for some reason, they decided to turn all the characters into total assholes.

[@Jovanoc]

good thing we have Kaworu who isn't an asshole oh no he only has like 5 seconds of screentime

[@beesknees2594]

@@Jovanoc and then his head turns into ground beef at the end :(

[@Spartan135]

Rei isn't a total asshole too,just a mindless puppet without an own will.

[@353-d8o]

@UChPVTsVC2I_mWACK7rOj0Jw that makes her an annoying bitch

[@MasonGreenWeed]

@@Spartan135 wow Rei act like a doll, what a surprise

[@21minute]

I don't mind her personality, but she's such a one dimensional character.

[@kalebgonzales4009]

Thats because she is more of an archetype rather than a progressing character. She stays as she is and is hardly changing. She never mentions about her problems to much as well.

[@bookmew1081]

When I saw her in "You Can (Not) Advance" I kept feeling she was totally me if I were an actual character in Evangelion. Maybe I kind of am 1 Dimensional, although you could say that is the case for most people probably. Also isn't Mari's lack of change part of her character in itself? She's supposedly been preserved by being an Eva Pilot, & because Mari has been a pilot much longer than Shinji & Asuka maybe it's much harder for her to change than it is for them?

[@kalebgonzales4009]

@@bookmew1081 well, you have a point, but she doesn't face problems close enough to Asuka's or Shinji's level. She is closer to Rei's level but she is likely more in a supportive role for our progressing characters. And she has no concrete history unlike Rei's (cloning and shinji's mother),Asuka (neglect by her mother and developed an attention complex of sort) and Shinji( mother died, father is an a-hole and has a hard time being with the people he loves).

[@Healody]

That is, until instrumentality begins.

[@eathotdog]

I bet you think Rei is a complex character.

[@justfresh179]

To me, Mari is the 1:1 representation of Hideaki’s wife. This time around in the cycle, Mari just randomly appears; no major backstory she just appears and just brings joy and happiness to almost everything around her. Similar to how Anno may have been going through the motions in life over and over again, and then his wife came into his life and changed forever

[@hinrei1986]

Mari is in the rebuilt for 2 reasons: 1) Fan service 2) To offset Shinji's CP But I didn't predict she won at the end. Damn you Anno XD

[@geetakungeekotaku235]

She is a Marie Sue, its all in the name. She is us, inside the movie, a fantasy And a deux ex machina as well. That being said, i liked her ands she is totally convoluted but i love it

[@terriblemaze]

She is a poorly written cardboard cut out. She is an idea that continuously ended up on the cutting room floor to make room for characters people actually give a fuck about, thus dooming her to never be given a fuck about. It only took about two minutes to make Gendo sympathetic at the end of the last film, they could have given Mari her two minutes at any point but never even attempted anything beyond repeating the phrase 'glasses and big boobs' because they knew that's all the fuck she was ever going to be in these films.

[@NaviciaAbbot]

Not as much as a Sue as Shinji Ikari was in Rebuild. The very definition of Tragic Sue.

[@terriblemaze]

@@NaviciaAbbot Well yeah but that's because his Magic-mommy god was inside of him the entire time.

[@TheShinigami244]

Now we know that mari is for sure anno's wife and she saves shinji just like his wife saved him

[@ThatHippyDuck]

i am so happy with this ending.

[@MattiaMMM]

You spoilered me

[@TheShinigami244]

@@MattiaMMM maybe dont read the comments on an eva movie when a new movie comes out?

[@MattiaMMM]

@@TheShinigami244 this video is 2 years old

[@TheShinigami244]

@@MattiaMMM its still the same subject matter? you dont read comments on something if you dont want to be spoiled.

[@rogue9888]

Mari (literally) landed into Shinji’s life, there’s a famous saying of people landing into peoples lives. She’s the only mentally stable and perfect candidate as a healthy partner. The same thing happened to Gendo and Yui appearing in his life pulling him out of his dark space. Mari is the perfect partner for Shinji for a healthy relationship.

[@theMoporter]

Uh...but Gendo lost it entirely when Yui died. Is that going to happen too if something happens to Mari?

[@rogue9888]

@@theMoporter Shinji in 3.0+1.0 accepted the deaths of others and close ones like when Asuka, Rei, and Misato died, unlike Gendo

[@luciano3512]

I agree

[@terriblemaze]

exactly, lazy as fuck romantic partner prop with zero character or consequence. just shitty writing. We get what Mari is as a narrative device, but she is merely that, a device, a prop, and not an actual three dimensional character. Just lazy writing and the biggest failure of the rebuild series.

[@lukethekuya]

@@terriblemaze Let's see if your future girlfriend will also be a romantic partner prop with zero character or consequence.

[@Jorigin]

She was literally just there so the fanbase wouldn't shit itself when Shinji ended up with Rei or Asuka at the end.

[@tnightwolf]

I actually like that Shinji "told them" to fuck-off, both of them.

[@souna5755]

@@tnightwolf shinji just goes "fuck off rei go with Kaworu I ungayed him in this world" "fuck off asuka go with uhhhhhhhhhhhh idk live as roommates with kensuke maybe"

[@АлександрМартьянов-й2я]

But he did end up with Asuka in EoE. Like the real Evangelion.

[@Jorigin]

@@АлександрМартьянов-й2я ok except this isn't about EoE.

[@mafeuk]

My take is that she is sort of like a "narrative clutch" used by Anno to fill on certain situations. That particularly came to my attention when watching 3.0+1.0 and how she was Shinji´s partner at the end of the movie or how she was having a very casual conversation with Fuyutsuki earlier on the movie. Also she appeared on Gendo´s flashbacks alongside Yui and was called "Mari Iscariote" by Fuyutsuki...kinda like Judas Iscariot, the man that sold Jesus that is hated by many but was necessary for the narrative of the new Testament. Maybe she is there when she is needed narratively like a back up she is for Nerv and later Wille in the story.

[@multiplex811]

I thought she was just a result of the Writers writing themselves into a corner with 03 and Asuka

[@LIXEF06]

I happen to be a simpleton and as such I rather like the character personally .

[@postalyorha4437]

i can relate to this

[@burningpotato9447]

I havent really looked into her lore so I don't know if I liked her character because she really does not have any in the movie. At least to me.

[@smhsophie]

Wow simp

[@Th0rn5555]

@@smhsophie bruh

[@bringinthedope5929]

@@Th0rn5555 lol the term is so watered down now it's silly af

[@pedrovieira8602]

Love how the manga author invented the backstory out of nowhere and the movie team were probably like "yeah, that's fine, let's go with it"

[@darkoak555]

Considering Mari's first appearance is on Rebuild 2.0 (2007) and she appeared on manga on extra chapter that was released in 2014. I don't think the mangaka can just create a backstory out of thin air without Anno's approval considering he's quite a control freak. Not to mention if you look at the photo of Yui Ikari and baby Shinji that Fuyutsuki showed teen shinji in Rebuild 3.0 (2012), you can actually see a person who resemble Mari in the same photo, red glass + brunette hair color (just google "Yui Shinji photo"). I think Anno already has a rough idea of how the backstory of Mari should be, the issue is which moment is the time to reveal them that made people mad and think that Anno do an "ass-pull". It doesn't help either when Anno's directing style of EVA series as a whole is meant to be symbolic, kept under-wrap and abstract as much as possible since it is his magnum opus . Each iteration of Eva (OG series, EoE, rebuild, and manga) are a different take and different setting, but there are some similarity and references that is shared within each iteration. Each iteration of Eva were created at different time of his life e.g. when he was dealing with depression that he need to take a break and when he was able to move on with his life. [SPOILERS FOR 3.0 + 1.0 MOVIE] The 3.0 + 1.0 bears his message to tell his fans (and possibly him) that it is time to move on to a Neon Genesis (new beginning). I'm just happy that the dude was able to give a closure to this series or at the very least, this iteration. The movie is great in its own way if you look beyond the media, but into the artist intention.

[@TheYetixOUTx]

SHES THE DEFINITION OF FAN INSERT CHARACTER HER INTRODUCTION IS EVEN FALLING FROM THE SKY! HER ONLY CHARACTER TRAITS ARE LOVING BIG ROBOTS AND HAVING A CRUSH ON SHINJI FOR NO REASON! "You smell like ecl"

[@terriblemaze]

Yeh, she is the greatest failing of the rebuild series. But I'm sure they are making a fortune off her posters and toys.

[@Jayfive276]

Say what you like about my girl Mari, but her English VA knocks it out of the park.

[@PeiceofNick]

Well shes shares her English VA with both Misslisa Akermen from Attack on Titan and Kyoka Jiro from My Hero Academia.

[@captainquark2272]

Both her VAs are some of the best in the industry

[@tovi3280]

Nick R who’s the aot character you mention? I don’t remember anyone named lisa

[@PeiceofNick]

@@tovi3280 I ment to say Melissa

[@tovi3280]

Nick R who’s Melissa? Like what show

[@DigiCube4]

What did her english voice actor feel about her? "Nothing ventured nothing gained" was my life motto after hearing it

[@papasscooperiaworker3649]

What did the English voice actor say?

[@sloandog]

that’s not rlly from this show tho lol

[@scrye]

I'm not sure how I feel about her. Not enough development. But I do like the addition of a new pilot character

[@gradyshin2926]

Crazy how the part where he talks about what would make Mari a bad character is basically just a description of what she ended up being

[@johnpanicker7590]

Asushinsisters..we can't s-stop kneeling... Sasuga Hideaki KINO sama....

[@estehtix]

Nah i respected Anno-sama Decision she's basically Soryuu in rebuilds

[@astreagc1187]

Mari best girl

[@Deeznuggets592]

Wash your ass before typing sh*t like this, you are embarrasing

[@chrisakane9840]

I think they are trying to make mari like bayonetta a hyper sexual character. I mean shes ok, but hopefully 4.0 wont just be about mari. Unless they are for sure gonna make a 5.0 and so on.

[@ItsTylesOrSomething]

Mari does give me Bayo vibes. But I like both the characters. Not because of the sexualization. But rather because they own it and it's part of their character. They arent defined by sexuality. They're strong characters who happen to be pretty and have coquettish attitudes. And that's okay.

[@aegis408]

Only difference is bayoneta was an actual interesting character. This dumbass called Mari is just painful to watch

[@tovi3280]

I wouldn’t compare the 2, only similarity is glasses and being from Europe lmao

[@jackdarrow3011]

I hate her glasses and her act

[@NicolasDarknessWolf]

Wow ..she really does give me bayo vibes not in the hypersexual way, bayo isn't hypersexual, she owns that she is a sexy woman and will strive and kick ass as she likes , empowered and fashionable, Mary just needs a fly me to the moon theme inside the Eva 08

[@muteprophet8731]

She's an insert for Anno's wife. Anno made the original series and EoE at a dark time in his life. He got married to a qt 3.14 in 2002 that saved him from his depression and started working on the rebuild movies after that. Mari is literally the only non toxic relationship that Shinji has in the entire series. All of her interactions with him come with words of encouragement instead of the shame and despair the others bring him.

[@wzx6x6z6w]

They both wear glasses and that alone has proved it.

[@TheRibbonRed]

@@wzx6x6z6w they're both also brunette.

[@restless8638]

He literally in an interview she's not.

[@Deeznuggets592]

"Mari is literally the only non toxic relationship that Shinji has in the entire series" lmao dude, you should rewatch Midgelion

[@NineLivesMusic]

Reading all of these comments about Mari a year ago, damn times changes things huh

[@itsbeyondme5560]

What happen

[@estehtix]

@@itsbeyondme5560 the ally wins Rebuild war

[@terriblemaze]

Her character still sucks in the last film, she's nothing but a carboard cut out narrative prop.

[@Doellimann]

Initially i thought “mari and shinji” whyyyyy? But after thinking a bit about, i like this outcome of the story very very much… i think the both fit perfectly together, giving each other what they need without carrying too much weight from earlier like it would be if shinji ended up with Asuka

[@lukethekuya]

Happy to see another member of the "Choose Life" community. 😀

[@desubokudawanano]

Yeah, choose life. Create a perfect fantasy world and run away from the world you ruined. Fanfic tier shit

[@Lasanga95]

Yes,but I would have liked their relationship to have been more develompment.

[@Cube210]

"It's only me imagining all of this." Suggesting the extra chapter and Mari's backstory isn't canon. Well that turned out to be a fucking lie now didn't it?

[@chihhsingchen2506]

True, and even after watching the last movie, we learn that her true name is Maria Iscariot, and nothing more... So, who the heck is she?

[@JeremyB8419]

@@chihhsingchen2506 Maria Iscriot is a biblical figure

[@chihhsingchen2506]

@@JeremyB8419 Yea i know, that's even more confusing, whats her purpose exactly? To save Shinji?

[@JeremyB8419]

@@chihhsingchen2506 I think she’s the only one from the real world that Shinji is capable of existing with. The other two iterations of Evangelion didn’t have her, so he wasn’t ever able to exit to the real world.

[@casperchristiansen2458]

@@chihhsingchen2506 The name is an insult from Fuyutsuki, being that, like Judas Iscariot, she was someone who betrayed the supposed "saviours" of mankind to fight for WILLE, and that, like Mary Magdelene to Jesus in apocryphal literature, was a close student and confidant to Fuyutsuki. Thus, she is both disciple and traitor to makind's supposed "saviours". This is what I took from the Eva Wiki and I think it is personally a good explanation. Other than that, she's just another Eva pilot who, like Shinji, was able to accept life's challenges and exist in a world without the Evangelion.

[@soda3185]

Just what you'd expect from the master, Mr. Anno!

[@peterthor9940]

Felt like she was a good character to add in. For the longest time Rei and Auska was the immature love interests of Shinji. Making her the end girl basically says that Shinji grew up from all those toxic relationships (you know parental issues, or tundere to shy girl to the point of where contact is toxic to them) and wants to have one that is honest, confident with oneself and still fun. It's like the ending where ----Spoiler----- they basically created our world without Evas, a world that Ano's fan's should embrace instead of the gloomy anime world.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

Agreed!

[@HobiAI]

Spoiler : The ending was like if The Pope said : Forget about God Jehova. And, let's move on.

[@pangalanapilyedo3225]

Yes. But Rei with long hair is so beautiful.. I wonder if the one at the end with Kaworu in the train station is her or her clone.

[@peterthor9940]

@@HobiAI that is what Ano is saying. Everyone is so dam obsessed with it that he feels like his creation was a mistake because every other works is now compared to the original NGE. He wants new ideas into the media, that's why he did the very expensive Anime Expo.

[@Kevin-fj5oe]

Well, let's hope she's not to be the reason for another impact.

[@SecondAftermath]

She honestly represents a big thing about most people's lives, the best things in your life might sometimes come unexpectedly. Rebuild was a different story to tell and I like that about these Evangelion shows and movies, they offer slight or major changes that let us feel different feelings accepting one ending as true for ourselves. The story isn't to please us anyway so I'm just here to digest the stories given and unravel any mystery they have

[@desubokudawanano]

Lol justifying shitty writing with "unexpected thing blah blah"...

[@ItsTylesOrSomething]

Anybody else get strong Bayonetta vibes off of Mari tho?

[@abnerdoon4902]

Nice to see the Mari gang dabbing on everyone else. Gonna get an RG unit 8 now because of the last movie.

[@HydraDominus]

Hooo boy does the final movie clear ALL of this up

[@Jsimms1324]

Mari ending up with Shinji was Anno’s middle finger to the fans that hated her.

[@terriblemaze]

I never hated Mari I was just waiting for them to write her into anything other than a carboard cut out designed to sell more dolls. If she was meant to be as important as they try to make her in the end they should have written her character as more than one dimensional. It's not a middle finger, it's just really bad character writing. Not even bad, just non existant.

[@corriesutton8720]

It was the only way they could end this without sinking one of the other two main ships. If Anno had picked Rei or Asuka it would have started a bloody all out fan war! This way no one wins it’s a draw ✍️ Unless you shipped Mari from 3.0? Then you a far sighted fellow indeed.

[@kla4600]

She won. I don't mind, since I've liked her from the beginning.

[@rdraken]

The more she did the more I liked her. Yes a lot of her shit was fan service. However there was stuff there to like. Particularly a bit she did in 3+1 (not spoiling it for other people reading) she starts making gun noises while shooting and I just broke and said "that's something I do" couldn't help but laugh.

[@corriesutton8720]

Sounds like something a NGE era Kensuke would do? Lol2 on hearing those gun noises.

[@teamrocket5842]

First i did not like Mari but after watching 3.0+1.0 i appreciate her a little bit more

[@buger348]

Same. Something about this film made her feel more of a real character, rather than a simple eva pilot.

[@terriblemaze]

After 3.0+1.0 I feel like I understand what they wanted Mari to be, but they never took the time to make her what they wanted her to be, so she just ended up not merely a cardboard cutout character, but a cardboard cut out character Shinji ends up leaning against.

[@raggedy3759]

When people say that Anno made the rebuilds to spite his fans I would label Mari as the greatest piece of evidence. As nice as it is having a bubbly and nonplussed EVA pilot with no sad-ass background, she is a complete shell of a character. Her existence is relegated to fan service unless they pull some wacky shit on rebuild 4. I feel like the show wasn't made worse by her inclusion, but I think it would all work better if she had never been added in the first place.

[@Thoralmir]

You mean like her "marionette" battle in Paris? That kind of wacky?

[@thatmotivatedchris6749]

I deliberately and heavily disagree with you you're right on her having no personality and everybody's basically correct on her having little to no screen time but the few seconds she had of screen time she had pretty much sparked something in me that the other three females did not i think if she was in the original series they would focus (not entirely let's not forget rei and asuka) more on her and I think she would be a lot more appreciated And she had something that the other 4 characters don't have it's not having a depressing back-story a nice change-of-pace compared to the others more development is all she needs to be just as good as the others

[@saldan3985]

I disagree with "Her existence is relegated to fan service" Since well yeah it is true that she seems to be just a shell of a character and not as deep as the other pilots, she was however one of the most knowledgeable out of all three. Since she came directly from Seele and basically was trained in the same place as Kaworu, she knows a lot more towards "What is happening" and that's a huge advantage considering the very messy story that is Evangelion.

[@Sorakeyblademaster37]

Toji should’ve been the new pilot instead of big boob fan service girl.

[@jackdarrow3011]

Still i hate her appearance and her act toward everyone.

[@grunermrk]

If only we knew how big a role she would end up playing in the end lol.

[@terriblemaze]

Exactly... if only they had written her to be, you know, a character rather than an inflated prop.

[@Xelpherpolis]

The manga's interpretation is one that I admittedly like, but is also kinda funny. Like... goddamn, Yui Ikari. How many people in love with you have gone completely batshit because of your death? At least it adds one to the roster who actually GIVES A DAMN about Shinji.

[@safi6749]

Sorry for replying 1 year later but I have the Same Fucking Question Why tf does eveyone love yui so much?

[@theletsplay43]

It's never the character's fault, but it is the writers fault. Anno didn't do enough with the character to warrant her existence in the rebuilds. If only he fleshed her out more, given her a backstory (which in a movie with limited time is no easy task) then she would've been a much better character. Her character was doomed from the start sadly.

[@yuustan3672]

Also Asuka's depression is omitted by Anno lmao

[@ethan37066]

Who would have thought...

[@naku8005]

Mari Ikari...

[@a7c777]

I’d like to think that Mari is a symbol of Anno’s growth and change in perspective after dating his wife. Anno has been documented as seeing his wife as a confident Manga writer, whos very motivated and has a very active daily life. This is a huge contrast to the binding depression Anno (Shinji) experienced, where the fears of the world made himself take himself too seriously. So the simplicity and lack of baggage (,particularly baggage from Anno’s self esteem and negative reception of Eva fans,) that came with Anno dating someone new, accepting and pleasant motivated himself to continue to take his negative perceptions with a grain of salt and have a more optimistic view in his own life to do things that he otherwise wouldnt have done if consumed by his own fear and loneliness

[@shaggycan]

Saying to destroy something, means something very different from a creative writing point of view. Writers take pieces/ideas and weave them together. In order to rebuild something in a new work you first have to dismantle or destroy the original. It can't be done otherwise.

[@themagicmath8418]

Rebuild series’ character and structure is literally said to be different in almost in every way from the og and both of them serves very different purposes. Og is literally an anime of its own that does not want to continue and it is destined or planned to end and die out after the end of it. Rebuild series is like Gundam, trying to continue the story by allowing various choices to be made my characters to create a different story.

[@royabr1217]

@@themagicmath8418 I agree. Furthermore, "What's the Deal with Mari Makinami Illustrious?" the title asks? There is no deal. She is a blank slate. The writers themselves admitted they created the character without any coherent plan in mind. This is why after 4 movies we still have no idea who she truly is, what her motivations or past are. She is basically JJ Abrams' mystery box: pretending to have content but not really having any.

[@themagicmath8418]

@@royabr1217 Tbh I agree with most people that she is just a fan service role, but I do find her character interesting in a way. However, many people mistake Rebuild series for one point as it is mentioned to be completely different from the og. And in the rebuild series, lots of characters are not being focused and they even have different backstories. ( like asuka: in og, she saw her mother hang herself cuz half of her soul is inside 02. In rebuild, it was never stated, but she does not cling on kaji and kaji was never sent to Germany to meet her. Plus, not much of her is shown) Which brings me to my point is that rebuild focus mainly and only on Shinji. Others rarely matter. After watching the 3 movies, 90% of the screen time is given to Shinji and some to kaworu and many people say there is no character development in rebuild. That is very true, but if you are talking about Shinji, then I would say you r wrong. In fact, I feel like Shinji had more character improvement in rebuild( maybe cuz I always thought he was just a pu**y in og) And rebuild series doesn’t rly step outside of Shinji and move to other characters( probably cuz of time) But I find one thing interesting, Shinjis mother was barely mentioned in rebuild, but she played such a big role in og. Kinda wanna know where she went lol.

[@royabr1217]

@@themagicmath8418 Hey, I just watched this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGGWhImZh7eaaa8 This basically explains why the Rebuilds exit. Short answer: studio Khara needed to raise money to get started and establish itself, and the industry would not allow that with any original project, so they had to resort to the nostalgia factor with Evangelion. The Rebuilds and their multifarious weaknesses exist solely because there was no other way to establish Khara. It was not a passion project or closure for Anno, so the writing quality shows. Honestly, I think there was no detailed plan for the story and in fact I have a theory that the plot and fates of the several characters were changed significantly between 3.0 and 3.0+1.0. Heck, just look at the promos from 2.0 and 3.0 - major differences.

[@themagicmath8418]

@@royabr1217 I just watched it. Think the guy explained the backstory of rebuild and y it exists very well. There is one point I question is that the flow of the anime today. Everyone nowadays likes mainstream. Animes like jujutsu kaisen or even high school dxd is extremely popular.(I love them too) It is because of the huge demand for those animes, which is why they r super popular among people. Anno deliberately trying to change the flow because he didn’t like it seemed impossible for me. To me, it is because there are so many mainstreams, that’s wut makes og eva or eva rebuild so special. I agree with you very much on the point where u said that there was no way to establish the studio, but I disagree with u said that there was no detailed plan for rebuild series. In fact, when watching the 3 movies, since they do not focus on character developments(except shinji and kaworu), I find they focus more on world structures and plot buildings.(some are very detailed and well thought) Some characters have detailed developments, but only exists for plot.(like many people say Misato wanted Shinji to get in the robot in 2.0, and then flip her face in 3.0. One detail where many ppl missed(including me) is that Misato thought Shinji was going berserk and not his real self. In her eyes after the impact that didn’t happen, destroying the world again seemed far beyond the importance of saving a replaceable clone girl(ayanami)). So I think rebuild is very detailed planned, but just not the character developments.

[@GoatJesus]

In the description you say 'have you ever wondered what the point of this character was -- tune in to find out' and even after watching the whole video I still don't know wtf she's doing here lmao.

[@arundhir2662]

GoatJesus ayyy goat Jesus

[@goji3755]

Same. So far it seems like she was a substitute for Asuka halfway through 2.0 and even stole one of Kaji's scenes from the original series. And now she's just a sidekick who's biggest contribution so far has been force-ejecting Shinji from Unit 13 to stop Fourth Impact. Maybe it'll all add up to something once we've seen the final film, but I'm very doubtful at this point. And she's just one of the MANY questions I have about the new series. Pretty much every major change from Neon Genesis to the Rebuilds is very poorly defined and given only sparse details, and certain things seem to be going completely unexplained. With NGE at least we had enough information to draw our own conclusions at first, and now we have plenty of supplementary material to fill in the details. But currently I can't make heads or tails of how or why things are unfolding the way they are in the Rebuilds. I think I understand the WHATS, I just don't understand the HOWS or the WHYS.

[@syweb2]

@@goji3755 What Rebuild needs is clarity. You can't just throw events and words around and expect people to get it without some kind of explanation or closure.

[@goji3755]

@@syweb2 Agreed. Unfortunately I don't think we'll get any without going outside the movies themselves for information. And since Anno won't be working on Evangelion anymore after the final film, that means our only real hope is for a manga adaptation, hopefully by the guy who made one for the original series.

[@syweb2]

@@goji3755 Wait, he's not working on Eva anymore afterward? I mean, I figured Eva would be completely finished after this, but still...

[@sadia6503]

Something about Mari feels a bit off so I feel like she'll have importance in the last rebuild

[@maxklinger1494]

Narrator: he was right

[@vernaute2803]

She feels like a really modern addition, and by modern, I mean tropey and sexualized for the sake of being sexualized.

[@cro-magnum7642]

Wasn't every character like this? There's no reason for the plug suits to look like that.

[@godzilla_fan_13]

@@cro-magnum7642 I mean, yes, but in universe it's generally stated that clothing would cause sync interference.

[@seg162]

@@godzilla_fan_13 But that's just the in-universe explanation. For all viewing intents and purposes, the plugsuits were meant as a showcase of sexuality, especially on the females.

[@campkira]

a girl you don't mind bareback with...

[@sprawlz6466]

That's the idea. The rebuilds are a big "Fuck You" to all the people that wanted a cheesy, happy, tropey spinoff of the original series. The point of the original series is to seem as cliche as possible at first, then completely deconstruct all of it to show why its bad to escape reality into basic animes like that. The message didn't get through to some people so Anno wanted to do it twice as hard with the rebuilds. Asuka and Rei are also way more simple. The goal is to seem like the perfect mindless, fanservice-filled eva world that all the weebs want, then make that whole world go to utter shit in the third movie. So Hideaki Anno is basically just trolling weebs with these rebuilds. I find it hilarious that Anno can just get away with that.

[@DeadRattle4444]

New video idea: What's the Deal with Mari Makinami _Ikari_ ?

[@senavalon]

After watching 3.0 + 1.0 she is just best girl

[@nickryan6787]

Ikr she's such a sweet gf

[@ComeInToMadness]

Trash taste

[@adimasguntur]

@@ComeInToMadness hmmmh, your tears are delicious 😋

[@blankisfornerds]

@@adimasguntur he seems to be trashing on anyone who likes her so shrug

[@nickryan6787]

@@ComeInToMadness cry about it gif

[@budicaesar1213]

YOU GUYS WOULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED

[@coldhaixx1905]

What?

[@h3lldiv3r]

best girl won !

[@coldhaixx1905]

@@h3lldiv3r who?

[@maddeninghustle6919]

@@coldhaixx1905 Mari is best girl and she won.

[@blankisfornerds]

what i hate is we dont know much about her unless you go digging, its similar to asuka in the rebuilds but we also had asuka in the original show. i hope they do more with mari and actually describe her and give us some backstory.

[@KokoroKatsura]

HUGE ANIME BREASTS

[@salsamancer]

She's going to have to have some huge mind-blowing twist in the last movie to counteract her being completely useless filler in the first three

[@maddeninghustle6919]

@@Bunny-xr7cx Best girl.

[@JMotion]

7:24 Well… that aged well, huh 😅

[@grizzlybear6377]

Personally I like her because she's different compared to the other characters of the saga; it makes her just as strange. Having "fun" while destroying valuable equipment (Eva's) seems wholely irresponsible. Also it was really concerning that she knew how to make Unit 02 mode change. "Backdoor Controlls - The BEAST". How the hell did she know this? There isn't a cheat sheet lying around in a EVA to learn this shit. And since they introduced her so quickly, it makes me wonder what the hell SEELE was thinking about when they let her in. They don't screen pilots before they get an opportunity to save the world? It just seems like she has alot going on that she's not revealing and I'm prepared for her to be a possible villian later on. As I said, I like her. But she is just as suspicious as a red flag covered in bells and whistles. 🧐

[@zeimalovail6577]

she's a clone (or original cursed child) of yui ikaris friend in the photo shown to shinji in Q (like rei) she works as a spy for gendo to achieve his goal to do a world or time reset (4th impact) to save yui.

[@alief1856]

Really , spy ?? , what do you mean dude ?

[@zeimalovail6577]

@@alief1856 gendo had his own goals outside of protecting the world, nerv, seele, ect. in fact his ultimate goal was to destroy it all to reset his mistake with yui. the hidden lore (mostly reveled in q) is that its possible to (redo) everything to save everyone. shinji wants to find a way to save rei and everyone, gendo knows shinji is the key to do that and pulls the strings to activate the (redo). misato and Asuka however insist that the right thing to do is to move on with life and accept what they have lost, thats why they don't want shinji to pilot anymore, because he will trigger a 4th impact (redo) anyway Mari is a spy for gendos real plans for another (redo). her mission is still a mystery though.

[@alief1856]

@@zeimalovail6577 Maybe your opinion is correct if Mari rebuilds is a clone, I see from the age when compared to the one in the manga by now it might be 47 years old and his character is also different from that in the manga, but I'm not sure if she's a gendo-spy

[@zeimalovail6577]

@@alief1856 well if the twist was that obvious they would have nothing for the final movie. but she has a few scenes where she makes a few calls to unknown higher ups and is oddly smug and overconfident altogether on how situations play out for everyone, almost like kaoru's personality. we just have to wait and see.

[@zeimalovail6577]

just for fun there's a few similarities to her and the ayanami line. like her name for example (maki)nami (aya)nami. 0:25 her glasses cracks just like gendos.

[@ghostf6321]

After watching 3.0+1.0 I think Mari kind of represents the future and moving on from the past. The last act of the movie shinji is kind of coming to terms with everything and is learning to let go and move on with his life. He brings closure to his relationship's with his father, rei, asuka, kaworu, etc and is at peace with them. This is what I took from the movie and while I didn't get why Mari even needed to exist in the previous movies I now greatly appreciate that she was there.

[@Christian-gr3gu]

I'm so tempted to call her mari sue lol

[@CyraRyokoBlaze]

I love Mari. And unit 8. I love the rebuild. Tho I was confused with the 3ed movie. But it was still great

[@colecampbell6891]

I honestly think that it's cool that the added a new character it livens it up a little

[@rmcowdery]

Mari is best girl. When she goes beast mode toward the end of 2.22 is my favorite scene in the rebuild series.

[@ComeInToMadness]

Mari is a fucking trash one dimension self insert of Anno's wife. completely pointless to the rebuilds

[@Gambenoful]

After watching the movie Friday, it turns out she was from the Showa era. They also show her with Yui in flashbacks. So either Sadamoto lied to save spoilers or Anno love the idea from the manga and found a place to have Mari fit in the last movie.

[@JeremyB8419]

She’s in the photograph of Shinji as a baby too. And she always talks about him growing up.

[@bigwavesun]

I think he either lied or had no clue Anno was gonna make use of her. I just made a comment that because Anno includes hints of her past, her manga appearance has more significance than what Sadamoto says.

[@ghivifahmi4252]

Pog Mari moment

[@blackmoon2128]

I really like her, one of my favorite parts of the rebuilds, wich I happen to like more than the original. Or, I can say I like in a different way. I was in a pretty dark place when I watched the originals, and it ressonated with me differently than when I watched the rebuilds, wich appeared to me like somewhat a more 'complete' timeline (altough I can´t really say in wich manner it is so, the closest I can get to is that the original is a timeline of bleakness in wich someones or somethings are missing from the life, there´s an 'emptyness' in life, which is very nice to the tone of the series and so forth, and this one has some other things 'filling up' those missing spaces, like if you have gone back in a time which you suffered depression and had more people and more paths to take, the life would still have those same troubles, but the 'timeline' would be more 'filled', so to speak). So I like this timeline a lot, and also like Makinami a lot. I only didn´t liked how Kaoru was treated in the rebuilds in the end, I hope he appears again in some form.

[@DeathSithe92]

Something I really would have loved to see instead of them adding this useless and meaningless character Mari other than fan service is seeing how Toji of EVA unit 03 would have handled being an actual pilot should in the rebuild he not had his EVA hijacked by angels and him decommissioned from piloting, it would have been an interesting take instead of adding another girl for fanservice.

[@maddeninghustle6919]

Shut up. You just mad she is with Shinji.

[@Blunovain]

For those who think Mari = Moyoko Anno/Anno's Wife, please consider the following: twitter.com/htGOIW/status/1426481976257642501

[@casperchristiansen2458]

Them glasses don't lie.

[@TheShinigami244]

even if he didnt intend too, it still fits perfectly

[@shajack34]

wow that manga dude was capping this entire time

[@TheSpiderman7285]

@@shajack34 Do something original instead of consistently copying black people.

[@TheSpiderman7285]

@@casperchristiansen2458 You're wig-ging out too huh?

[@joshuabaker5167]

Who's here after the end Evangelion 3.0+1.0

[@deeron4498]

How did u watch it?

[@azureflame125]

Having watched all movies, Mari is (and will always be) a nothing character to me. I don't hate her and I don't like her. She adds nothing, she takes away nothing. I don't even buy she starts a relationship with Shinji because, if that's the case, well... it's really fucked up a 50 or something woman ends up with a 14 year old boy. And yeah, that "curse of the Eva" idiotic excuse doesn't save it from being extremely creepy.

[@Ayanami3rd]

It's not worse than Misato x Shinji or Fuyutsuki x Yui

[@kevinfranklin7913]

he literally restructures history they are the same age in the end

[@user-nw7zj2du9p]

Said "i don't hate, i don't like" yet this commentary is almost dripping with hate.

[@NoelleIsTheGeoArchon]

Director: How many girls do we need for Shinji, I mean this movie? Me: YES.

[@srijo8627]

I too would like to date my coworker's son when I saw being being born

[@thecatcuriositykilled4061]

"Mari isnt supposed to be that of a mysterious character" Mari's real name revealed in 3.0 + 1.0

[@fantasitma]

whats her real name? have been watching it, but dont know if they reveal her real name lol

[@Ordoabchao-x9k]

@@fantasitma something iscariot

[@fantasitma]

@@Ordoabchao-x9k oh yeah, when she confront gendo assistant, remember now

[@rickprime83]

Iscariot was "Judas", yeah that Judas, surname

[@corriesutton8720]

Insinuating she betrayed NERV and Gendos ending? Possibly at Yui’s request? Still so many unanswered questions, makes it fun to speculate about her past.

[@artistcomplex]

As a long time fan I would say I have seen her role shift, when she was introduced she did have a nice upbeat outlook that did do a lot to signal a shift from the tone of the original series, her character also displayed a outlook that a lot of early fans had asked for 'a cute girl who would enjoy piloting' but did it in a way that showed just how unsettling or uncanny that would be in reality and to the rest of the cast. So it's been nice to see her go on as counter/companion to Asuka, she is someone for Asuka to bounce off, where Asuka would often just charge though or dismiss Shinji or Rei. But it's clear that while Mari is good at triggering new directions and story from the directors, they haven't been sure how to use her once it's underway, so unfortunately she tends to just be dropped from the story till they need her again.

[@goji3755]

I'm still undecided about her. So far, it doesn't seem like she's impacted the plot of the movies in any significant way - her ONLY significant contribution so far is allowing EVA 02 to still be involved in the fight against Zeruel. Anno changes the story by whipping up this Vatican Treaty to limit the number of EVAs each country can control (something NERV is apparently trying to have repealed seeing as all the Angels attack Tokyo 3), apparently so Asuka can be the one to pilot Unit 03 and nearly be killed by Shinji. Mari's job is then to quietly infiltrate NERV and... I guess just stand in as UNIT 02's pilot if things become too dire and/or Asuka and UNIT 03 are put out of action? Then she immediately gets totaled by Zeruel and winds up having a similar conversation with Shinji as the one Kaji had with him in the original series. So her entire point in 2.0 is to substitute for other characters who previously had very clear and defined roles to play in Shinji's story. And in 3.0 she's basically just a sidekick to Asuka and her only major contribution of consequence is force-ejecting Shinji from Unit 13, leaving us with a movie where seemingly nothing is really accomplished other than rewriting the setting and vaguely redefining the stakes. By the looks of the preview at the end of 2.0, the original plan for 3.0 was completely different and likely would have given Mari a role of greater substance, and probably would have cleared up a lot of the changes that have been made in this new series. I can't help but think that the 3.0 we eventually got was at some point just going to be the first half of 4.0 - with the original plans for 3.0 being the events that transpired immediately after 2.0. Reportedly there was an earthquake around the time Anno and crew were writing 3.0, and since seismic activity was a central plot point to the original plan, he decided to completely reconceptualize the film rather than just postpone for a few months it out of respect. There's quite a few vague details and questions that I hope get cleared up at some point: 1) How exactly did Shinji trigger the (Near) Third Impact back in 2.0? The original series required quite a few things to trigger Third Impact that don't appear to be present at this point in time in the story. Are the requirements themselves different? If so, what are they? Are the prerequisites already in place but in very subtle ways? 2) There's quite a lot of evidence to show that a massive war happened between films, and 3.0 seems to be telling us that a Full Third Impact happened some time AFTER the Near Third Impact was triggered by Shinji, and that Shinji was apparently being used to facilitate the Full Impact despite being comatose in his EVA. Again, however, a lot of this information is jumbled and unclear. How was any of this possible? How did it actually go down? 3) Who put Shinji and Unit 01 inside the orbital prison if NERVE needed Shinji and WILLE needed Unit 01? I suppose either side could have done it as a temporary measure, but again there's no sense of "why" or even "when" it happened. 4) What is Mari's role in the story apart from being a substitute character and now just a sidekick? With fanservice? Hopefully we get all the information in the last film, or at least enough of it to reasonably draw our own conclusions. But I worry that it's too little too late for answers and inferences at this point.

[@jairusclement1725]

To answer question 3 I believe WILLE put Shinji and the Eva in the prison to prevent NERVE from getting them and only realized they needed the Eva after building the flying mechanism for the ship.

[@goji3755]

@@jairusclement1725 Coming back to this after seeing the final film... WOAH. Not only do we get a satisfying resolution to the series, but it manages to put in just enough legwork that we have MUCH more insight as to what happened to the world and where everybody is, AND it gives Mari a VERY important and impactful role. As usual with the Evangelion franchise, the precise details are clear as mud, but there's enough here to go on that we can probably work it out eventually. Overall a wonderful conclusion. Bravo, Anno!